---
title: What to Bring to Your First AI Strategy Consulting Session
description: "A prep list for your first AI strategy consulting session: the task to bring, real examples, a baseline hour count, your current tools, and what to leave out."
image: https://ai-marketinglabs.com/hubfs/what-to-bring-to-your-first-ai-strategy-consulting-session-1%20(1).jpg
---

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# What to Bring to Your First AI Strategy Consulting Session

![Kelly Kranz](https://ai-marketinglabs.com/hubfs/1c8a298050a84a029fa51a6945685d90.png)

Kelly Kranz

Oct 26, 2026

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Bring the problem, not a tool wish list. AI strategy consulting goes fastest when the consultant can see the real work: the task that eats your week, how it gets done now, what it costs you, and what you've already tried. Half an hour of prep on those four things means you spend the session on answers instead of paying for the consultant to ask the questions you could have answered at your desk.

**TL;DR**

- Pick one task, not a list of ideas.
- Bring real examples and a rough count of the hours it takes.
- List the tools you pay for and the data that can't be shared.

## What should you bring to an AI strategy consulting session?

Seven things, and none of them takes long to pull together.

1. **The one task.** Name it in a sentence: "Turning site visit notes into a written estimate takes our office manager most of Friday." If you have three candidates, bring all three and say which one annoys you most.
2. **How it's done today.** A short walk-through from the person who does it, or a screen recording of them doing it once. The steps people skip when they describe a task can be where the time goes.
3. **Three to five real examples.** Actual emails, quotes, intake forms, or reports, with names removed. A consultant learns more from one messy real example than from a clean description.
4. **A rough hour count.** Hours a week, who does it, and what happens when it's late. A guess is fine. No number at all is the problem.
5. **The tools you already pay for.** Your email, office suite, CRM, accounting software, and any AI subscriptions, plus who has admin access to each.
6. **What you've tried.** The chatbot experiment that fizzled, the automation nobody maintained. Why it stopped tells the consultant what to avoid.
7. **What can't leave the building.** Client data, financial records, anything covered by a contract. Say it early, because it changes which tools are on the table.

AI Marketing Labs asks for much the same before a first consulting session: what you want to accomplish, where you need help, and, if you've already started, how far you've gotten and what's getting in the way.

## Why does a before number matter so much?

Because without one, nobody can tell you later whether it worked. McKinsey's March 2025 survey of AI adoption put it plainly: "The one with the most impact on the bottom line is tracking well-defined KPIs for gen AI solutions". In the same [McKinsey survey](https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/quantumblack/our-insights/the-state-of-ai-how-organizations-are-rewiring-to-capture-value), less than one in five respondents said their organizations were tracking KPIs for gen AI solutions.

For a small business the KPI can be simple: hours a week on the task, days from request to sent quote, errors caught per month. Count it before the session and you walk in with the number every later decision gets measured against.

## How do you get an hour count if nobody tracks it?

Ask the person who does the task to keep a tally for one normal week: each time they do it, a line with the start time and the end time. A sticky note works. If a week is too long, count how many times it happens and time three of them, then multiply.

Add what it costs when the task runs late, in plain terms: quotes that went out after a competitor's, a client who had to ask twice, a Friday spent catching up. That part doesn't need to be precise. It tells the consultant which problem hurts.

## Why bring real examples instead of describing the work?

Because the examples show the data, and the data decides what's possible. Gartner reported in February 2025 that [63% of organizations either do not have or are unsure if they have the right data management practices for AI](https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2025-02-26-lack-of-ai-ready-data-puts-ai-projects-at-risk), and predicted that through 2026, organizations will abandon 60% of AI projects unsupported by AI-ready data.

You won't know whether your data is ready, and you don't need to. Hand over the real examples and let the consultant tell you. Three customer emails written three different ways is useful information. So is a quote template that half the team doesn't use.

## What should you leave out?

- **The tool wish list.** "We should get an AI agent" starts the conversation at the answer. Start at the problem and let the tool follow.
- **A big slide deck.** If it took a week to make, it's about strategy in general. Bring the one page about the task.
- **"AI for everything."** A session spread across ten ideas ends with ten half-answers.

Unclear value is one of the reasons Gartner gave when it predicted that [at least 30% of generative AI projects would be abandoned after proof of concept by the end of 2025](https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2024-07-29-gartner-predicts-30-percent-of-generative-ai-projects-will-be-abandoned-after-proof-of-concept-by-end-of-2025), along with poor data quality, inadequate risk controls, and escalating costs. In our view, unclear value starts in the first meeting, when nobody names the job.

## Who should come with you?

The person who does the task every day, and the person who approves spending. The first knows where the work actually gets stuck. The second can say yes to a next step before the momentum fades. If those are the same person, you're set.

## What should you walk out of the session with?

One named next step, a rough sense of what it would take, and a list of what not to do yet. If the next step is a build, ask what the scope would include before you agree to anything. If you're not sure whether to keep paying for strategy or move to building, there's [a quick test for whether you need a strategy consultant or someone who builds](https://ai-marketinglabs.com/lab-experiments/do-you-need-an-ai-strategy-consultant-or-someone-who-builds). And it's worth knowing in advance that a good consultant may tell you [to skip AI for this task](https://ai-marketinglabs.com/lab-experiments/when-a-good-ai-strategy-consultant-tells-you-to-skip-ai).

## Frequently asked questions

Should I send materials before the session?

Yes, if the consultant will read them. Send the examples, the hour count, and the list of tools a day or two ahead, so the session starts with questions instead of setup.

What if I don't know which task to bring?

Bring the two or three that annoy you most and say you haven't picked. Choosing where to start is a normal part of a first session.

Can I bring my team to the first session?

Bring the person who does the task. A larger group can turn a working session into a presentation, so save the wider team for when there's something to show them.

 

 Ready with your list?

Start with *the problem*

Share what you want to accomplish and where you need help. Rick recommends an approach, and you agree on scope and fee before any work begins.

[Share your project](https://ai-marketinglabs.com/ai-consulting-services)

![Kelly Kranz](https://ai-marketinglabs.com/hubfs/1c8a298050a84a029fa51a6945685d90.png)

Written by

Kelly Kranz

With over 15 years of marketing experience, Kelly is an AI Marketing Strategist and Fractional CMO focused on results. She is renowned for building data-driven marketing systems that simplify workloads and drive growth. Her award-winning expertise in marketing automation once generated $2.1 million in additional revenue for a client in under a year. Kelly writes to help businesses work smarter and build for a sustainable future.

Keep *reading.*

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[![What to Bring to Your First AI Strategy Consulting Session](https://ai-marketinglabs.com/hubfs/what-to-bring-to-your-first-ai-strategy-consulting-session-1%20(1).jpg) AI Consulting What to Bring to Your First AI Strategy Consulting Session Bring the problem, not a tool wish list. AI strategy consulting goes fastest when the consultant can see the real work: the task that eats your week, how it ... Oct 26, 2026](https://ai-marketinglabs.com/lab-experiments/what-to-bring-to-your-first-ai-strategy-consulting-session) [![Should a Small Business Hire an AI Consulting Firm or One Consultant?](https://ai-marketinglabs.com/hubfs/should-a-small-business-hire-an-ai-consulting-firm-or-one-consultant-1.jpg) Should a Small Business Hire an AI Consulting Firm or One Consultant? If your project is one problem, hire one experienced consultant rather than an AI consulting firm. You work with the person doing the thinking on every call, ... Oct 26, 2026](https://ai-marketinglabs.com/lab-experiments/should-a-small-business-hire-an-ai-consulting-firm-or-one-consultant) [![What Is AI Consulting, and How Is It Different From Buying Software?](https://ai-marketinglabs.com/hubfs/what-is-ai-consulting-and-how-is-it-different-from-buying-software-1.jpg) AI Consulting What Is AI Consulting, and How Is It Different From Buying Software? AI consulting is paid outside help that works out where AI fits in your business, which problem it should take on first, and then helps you set it up or build ... Oct 26, 2026](https://ai-marketinglabs.com/lab-experiments/what-is-ai-consulting-and-how-is-it-different-from-buying-software)

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